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John's story, coping with mental health and emotional well-being

Our work on children’s mental health and emotional well-being

John found it hard to make friends at school and his behaviour got him into a lot of trouble. After he came to The Children’s Society, with help, his attitude improved and he no longer gets angry like he used to. This is his story.

My mum and I have experienced some really tough times

We became really close, almost inseparable.

While I loved being close to my mum, I found it hard to make friends in school and got into trouble a lot because of my behaviour.

I felt bad that mum couldn’t spend much time with my little sister because she felt she always had to be there for me.

We went to The Children’s Society for help

I wanted people to see me for me, and not for the trouble I get into.

My mentor helped me be more confident and showed me how to spend time with others. I never used to like dogs but one day we took his dog to the beach together and I loved it! I was laughing and smiling the whole time.

I made new friends and used my creativity to make many pieces of artwork. Life got better for me both in and out of school, which meant there were fewer meetings about my behaviour. I also learned to socialise better with my new friends.

Now I’m not angry. I used to rip up other people’s work, but now I work as a part of the team in class.

I’m still close to my mum and spend a lot of time with her. But now she also gets to go out to work, study and spend more time with my sister, which she couldn’t before.

My mum says that things are now going our way for once and The Children’s Society can take a lot of credit for that.